


Sugar Plum Waltz

by koalala1031



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Cookies, F/M, Fluff, Piano
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 01:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12333072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalala1031/pseuds/koalala1031
Summary: It was almost as if they were Clara and the Nutcracker Prince themselves.





	Sugar Plum Waltz

**Author's Note:**

> Part of Inktober for Writers 2017 on Tumblr – Day 11: Seasons

There was a snowstorm outside the empty coffee shop.

Kaede was sleeping while seated with her head lying on the piano’s fallboard. All alone.

The manager said that he had a family business to take care of in his hometown, so he was taking a day off and left her in charge while he left.

Tsumugi and Miu were probably late again. Not that Kaede could blame them, especially with the unfriendly weather in the last few days.

Kaede was still sleeping with her head lying on the piano’s fallboard when a sound of foot steps was heard from outside the coffee shop. Hearing the footsteps, Kaede’s drowsiness went away as she gasped in surprise. She yelped as she desperately tried to tidy up her disheveled hair using the transparent window as the mirror.

A young man entered the coffee shop and frantically closed the door. He rushed his way towards the nearest empty seat and sat on it, as he dropped his travel backpack on the table. He kept rubbing his hands together and his own breath ghosted his freezing hands to get some warmth. He noticed Kaede was still grooming her looks. The moment Kaede noticed his glance at her, she rushed to the counter to hide from him. The young man was confused at her reaction.

The young man went to the counter while shivering. He glanced around the coffee shop, only to realize that there was no one there except himself and the blonde barista in front of him. “T-this place is still in business, right?” he asked while gritting his teeth and clenching his hands in each other. “I mean, this place seems... not too crowded, so I kinda thought...”

Kaede then popped out from her hiding spot. “O-of course!” she answered. “We’re just kind of short on people because of, well, the weather outside.”

The young man looked outside the window to see the snowstorm outside. “Well, I can understand that,” he muttered.

“Well, this place is never that crowded in the first place, but still enough for this place to run,” Kaede smiled to him.

The young man sighed in relief. “I actually prefer places with less people like this,” he said. “It kinda has more... tranquil feels to it.”

“Me too,” Kaede said. “I mean, it’s good for this coffee shop to have more customers, it’s just that... it can get pretty tiring at times.”

The young man chucked. “I know,” he said.

“Anyway, what would you like to order?” Kaede changed the topic.

“Oh, my order? Hmmm...” the young man mumbled while looking at the menu. “Can I have a medium cappuccino, please?”

“Sure. Do you have any special preferences, like de-caf or soy milk?”

“Uh, is it okay if I order it with soy milk?”

“Of course! Also, do you want some snacks?”

“Snacks, huh...?” the young man thought for a few moments, looking at the menu again. “Can I get some dairy-free sugar plum cookies?”

“Oh, okay!”

Kaede then went to the coffee machine to make the cappuccino for him. Before she started working, she noticed that the young man was still standing there on the counter. “...You’re not going to sit down yet?” she asked him.

“I’m just... making sure you don’t make an ‘accidental’ coffee with dairy,” he told her. “S-sorry if I seem too distrustful to you, I just...”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay,” she reassured him as she already started making the coffee. “You’re not the first customer here with lactose intolerance.”

The young man only smiled, while Kaede kept making the coffee for him.

“Anyway, what are you doing here in the middle of a snowstorm?” she started talking about the less formal topic.

“Just traveling and stuff,” the young man shrugged. “Nothing too important.”

Kaede’s mouth formed a small O-shape as she nodded to his answer. “Do you have any family around here, or...?”

“Nope,” he answered. “I’m just here by myself.”

“Oh...”

Kaede then finished making the cappuccino and put it on the counter. She didn’t forget to also take a small jar of sugar plum cookies and give it to the young man. “That would be 650 yen,” she told him.

The young man then took his wallet. He opened it to take 1000 yen to Kaede. “E-eh?!” Kaede was surprised.

“You can keep the change,” he said.

“Oh, uh... Thanks...” she answered.

He only chuckled and took his treat with him. “Should I deliver it to your table instead?” Kaede offered.

“Thanks, but I’m good,” he told her.

“Okay...”

The young man then went back to his seat and sat there, while Kaede stayed in the counter for a while. He added a pack of sugar to his cappuccino and stirred it with the teaspoon that came with the coffee. He took a sip of the coffee, but then he dropped it on the table and fluttered his hands to cool down his tongue. Kaede looked at him and giggled. But then she looked away from him, in case he noticed what she just thought.

The young man noticed the piano in the middle of the dining area. “Has it always been around here?” he asked while pointing at the piano.

“Hm?” Kaede responded as she looked at the direction he pointed. “Oh, that! Well, it hasn’t been here for that long. Around 2-3 months, roughly.”

“Oh... is there any regular performer who plays it?” he asked as he started munching his sugar plum cookies.

“You’re talking to her right now,” Kaede replied him.

The young man blinked his eyes in surprise as his jaws stopped chewing. “Whoa, uh...” he said. “Can you play a song or two...” he glanced at the name tag on her chest. “...Kaede-san?”

Kaede blinked in surprise. “Oh, s-sure!” she said to him. “Do you have anything in mind?”

“Not really...”

Kaede then sat in front of the piano and opened the fallboard. “I guess I’m going to play _The Nutcracker_ by Tchaikovsky.”

“Chai... what now?”

“D-doesn’t matter. It’s just... the sugar plum cookies kinda remind me of it.”

“Sugar plum?”

Kaede took a deep breath and said, “You know, _Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairy_ , the second piece.”

The young man furrowed his eyebrows.

“S-sorry, sorry! I just... I always get carried away when talking about classical music and stuff!” Kaede stuttered while covering her face with her palms. “M-my co-workers always get mad at me for blabbering about stuff she doesn’t understand, but I still—”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” the young man reassured her. “I’ve actually seen _The Nutcracker_ ballet.”

Kaede’s eyes grew wide. “You have?!”

“Mm-hmm,” he nodded.

“How was it?”

“Brilliant. It’s a classic for a reason, after all,” he smiled.

“Oh, anyway can I start playing now?”

“Sure.”

Kaede then started playing the first piece— _March_. Her fingers hit the key one by one, seamlessly portraying the fight between the gingerbread men army and the mice army. Next, she started the second—the ubiquitous _Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy_ , bringing the young man back to the Land of Sweets. Her performance was sweet and enchanting, like the presence of the Sugar Plum Fairy herself. The young man was amazed by how something as simple as piano arrangement could visualize something almost as good as the ballet he saw.

“By the way, um...” Kaede started talking while her fingers were still doing their job. “Can I ask your name?”

“The name’s Amami Rantarou,” he answered as his eyes grew wide looking at her still being able to start a conversation despite playing a musical piece so complex at the same time.

“By the way... Amami-san,” she continued. “Can you tell me more about _The Nutcracker_ ballet?”

“Oh, sure,” Amami smiled. With Kaede still continuing to the next pieces back to back, Amami told her about Clara, the heroine who got the Nutcracker doll from her godfather Drosselmeyer. He told her about how Clara and the injured Nutcracker, alongside the army of gingerbread men, fought against the mice army—and won. And the Nutcracker turned into a handsome prince. He also told her about the Sugar Plum Fairy inviting Clara and the Nutcracker prince into the Land of Sweets. He told her about the celebration of sweets from around the world produced there: chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia, tea from China, and candy canes from Russia all dance for their amusement. Danish shepherdesses perform on their flutes. Mother Ginger has her children, the Polichinelles, emerge from under her enormous hoop skirt to dance a string of beautiful flowers perform a waltz.

After a few other pieces, Kaede performed _Waltz of the Flowers_. The combination of her piano performance and Amami’s narration created the imagery of the Land of Sweets itself. It was almost as if they were Clara and the Nutcracker Prince themselves. It was almost as if they were in the Land of Sweets instead of the deserted coffee shop. It was almost as if they were dancing waltz together, along with the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, and also all the sweets there. Amami kept swinging his head back and forth along with the music while sipping his coffee—which wasn’t as hot anymore.

The last piece was the intense, yet melancholic _Grand pas de deux_. Amami could feel the sorrow when the Sugar Plum Fairy ushered Clara and the Prince to the reindeer, as they parted farewell to her. Just like both him and Kaede parted farewell to the Sugar Plum Fairy to leave the Land of Sweets, and go back to the reality which was a deserted coffee shop.

Kaede then closed her performance by bowing down to her sole audience. Amami smiled and gave her a standing applause. “That was...” Amami complimented her with giving two thumbs up.

“Thanks!” Kaede cheered, but then she noticed Amami’s claps toned down and his smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just...” he sighed. “I’m kinda disappointed that it’s over.”

“Yeah...” Kaede looked outside the window. “It’s still storming outside, though,” she commented. “You might want to stay here for a while.”

“Or...” Amami said with a smirk. “We can go to the Land of Sweets and dance waltz again. What do you think... Clara?” he winked.

Kaede blinked, and then she giggled as she understood what he meant. “Sure... Your Highness.”

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who decided to make a winter fic instead of studying for tomorrow's exams (☞ ﾟ ヮ ﾟ )☞ ( ﾟ ヮ ﾟ ) ☜( ﾟ ヮ ﾟ ☜)


End file.
